Improvement in apparatus for evaporating saccharine juices



J. SOUTHER.

Apparatus for Evaporating Saccharine Juices. No. 26,794. Patented Jany'10, 1860.

N. PETERS. Plmtwhlhogmpbr. Waihinflon. D. C.

UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SOUTHER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING SACCHARINE JUICES.

70 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J only Sourunn, ofBoston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful improvement in a machine or combination ofmachinery for the purpose of bailing out sugar-cane juice from onekettle to another in a train of sugar-kettles, and for bailing outfinished sugar into the coolers by steam-power; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of theconstruction and operation of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is .an

end elevation, and Fig. 3 is an end view ofthe handle or spout to theladle, showing the manner in which it is held. 7

The same letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in the application of steam-power toan improved ladle, to facilitate bailing out hot cane-juice from onekettle to another, and the finished sugar to the coolers, by attaching asteam-cylinder to a car which is mounted on a track raised above a trainof sugar-kettles,'with a ladle suspended to the lowerend of thepistonrod.

In the drawings herein referred to, A A A represent a train ofsugar-kettles standing in a direct line.

B B is a track raised above the train of kettles.

O is a car mounted on four wheels, D D, which is made to travel back andforth on the track.

E is a dog for holding the car in the place required.

F is a steameylinder attached to the car in a vertical position.

G is a steanrvalve which admits the steam into the lower end of thecylinder.

H is alever to open or shut the steam-valve.

I is a piston-rod which is attached to a piston within the cylinderabove the steam-opening. This rod extends through the bottom head only.

J is a ladle suspended to the lower end of the piston-rod, with a jointat K to allow the ladle to tip as it is drawn up.

L is a valve in the bottom of the ladle to admit the juice as the ladlesinks in the kettle.

M is a' hollow handle or spout leading from the top of the ladle over tothe next kettle, through which the contents of the ladle is emptied.

N is a longitudinal groove on either side of the spout.

O is a round tube attached to one end of the ear and extending downward.P is a rod the upper end of which is round. and fitted to slide up anddown in the tube, and secured in any required position by setscrews QQ.The lower end of this red has two prongs, S S, with a friction-roller,R, attached to the inside of each. These rollers are fitted to thegroove on either side of the spout, and are a sufiicient distance apartto admit the spout between them and hold it in its proper position.

In order to convey steam to the cylinder in the different positions inwhich the car is to be placed, I use a flexible steampipe made ofvulcanized rubber.

\Vhen it is designed to operate this machine,

the steam is let on by moving the lever H, \i

which admits the steam into the lower end of the cylinder and forces upthe piston together with the piston-rod, and the ladle, being attachedto the lower end of the rod, is drawn up with it. The car,being mountedon atraek,is readily placed over the kettle to be emptied, and held inthat position by the dog E, which drops into a hole made in the track.Then by reversing the lever the steam-port is closed and theexhaust-port opened, allowing the steam to escape from the cylinder andthe piston to descend, dropping the ladle gradually into the kettle. Asthe ladle sinks in the liquid, the valve L in the bottom opens andallows the ladle to fill, taking up the whole or nearly the wholecontents of the kettle. Then by applying steam, as before, of asufficient pressure to raise the ladle filled with hot sugar orcane-juice, the valve in the bottom is closed by the pressure of theliquid, and as the outer end of the spout is suspended at a fixed heightwhen the ladle rises it cants over and dis charges the contents of theladle through the spout into the next kettle, or over the side of thekettle to the coolers, as is required. The dog is then raised and thecar run along over zonvenient to use steam-power, this ladle may )eoperated by hand-power by constructing a suitable arrangement ofmachinery for that purpose.

Having thus fully described the construction tnd operation of myimprovements, I will now aroceed to point out the parts which I claim asI ny invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A portablesteam-ladle for bailing hot sugar-cane juice from one kettle to anotheror the finished sugar to the coolers, as herein described.

2. The ladle constructed with a valve in the bottom to receive thecane-juice or sugar, and a hollow handle or spout through which thecontents of the ladle is discharged, the outer end of said spout beingsuspended at a fixed height, substantially in the manner and for thepurpose herein described.

3. The combination of mechanism herein described, substantially in themanner and for the purpose set forth.

- JOHN SOUTHER. V

Witnesses:

OnAs. W..HAwKEs, CHAS. W. PLACE.

